Do Something

Gary Walts / The Post-StandardERIN MAXWELL'S father and stepmother, Lindsey and Lynn Maxwell, at left, and stepbrother, Alan Jones, at far right, hold a news conference as others express their feelings about the investigation.

Child protective officials must be held accountable for protecting kids

If the claims of a former A.L. Lee Memorial Hospital emergency room doctor are true, the Oswego County Department of Social Services cannot be trusted in its present state to oversee the protection of children.

In a Post-Standard report today by John O'Brien, Dr. Dennis Mullaney said that over a four-year period, he and his colleagues made repeated calls to the Oswego DSS, reporting suspected abuse of children they encountered in the ER.

He said he and other medical professionals were so frustrated with the lack of response, they arranged a meeting with the department in 2007.

He said the meeting had been prompted by the case of a toddler who had come into the emergency room with an injury that suggested an adult had twisted the baby's leg.

He said he called the state abuse hotline about the baby, but was rebuffed by an Oswego County case worker who responded to call.

He said he contacted the state about Oswego caseworkers, but the state took no action.

He said he told his boss that children would die.

And some did.

Erin Maxwell, who Mullaney saw in the ER the day before she died Aug.30, had lived a horrific life, sharing a living space with as many as 100 cats, geese, snakes and chickens. Authorities said she was locked in her room. Teachers said she hoarded food and reeked of animal urine.

Her stepbrother was charged with strangling her. Her father and stepmother were charged with endangering the welfare of a child -- an interesting outcome, since three calls had been made to the Oswego DSS about Maxwell in 2003, 2005 and 2006.

A state report released last week said the Oswego DSS did not do enough to intervene on behalf of the girl -- information that should have come as no surprise to anyone.

Fifteen month-old Nick Taylor died from head trauma two weeks before Maxwell. His mother's boyfriend was charged.

Mullaney, who also saw Taylor in the ER, noted that the Oswego DSS had been called about the baby two weeks before his death.

Enough.

Enough of children being hurt or killed because adults failed to protect them.

Enough of state investigations that reveal the obvious.

Enough of calls for reforms and promises to reform when systemic problems continue to not be addressed.

(For example, the state still doesn't even record calls to its hotline, where reportedly 70 percent of the calls of mandated reporters -- like doctors, day care workers and teachers -- are ultimately rejected. State Sen. John DeFrancisco, R-Syracuse, and Assemblyman William Scarborough, D-Queens, chair of the state Assembly Committee on Child and Families, have legislation that would require recording.)

Enough of sappy proclamations about "the precious children" -- without demanding that the child protective system do its job.

Mullaney's charges -- coupled with the state report--against the Oswego DSS are serious and warrant further investigation.

We call on the state Office of Child and Family Services, state lawmakers and officials to ensure that vulnerable children are not twice abused -- by their parents and guardians or by the system charged with protecting them.